The Loop Newspaper - Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide

The past couple of decades has seen a sharp increase in the amount of research focused on Power Training for older adults.

But what exactly is Power Training? Simply put, power is equal to the amount of force and velocity.

Starting around the age of 50, the human body begins to lose a very specific kind of muscle fiber. Muscle fibers are organized into two major categories: Type I and Type II.

Type I fibers are slower contracting fibers, and Type II are faster contracting. Type I fibers maintain their diameter, more or less, for the rest of our life, but Type II fibers do not.

The diameter of Type II fibers drops dramatically as we age. What we end up with is a decrease in the number of Type II fibers and an increase in the number of Type I fibers.

Over time, we not only get weaker, we also get slower. In other words, we experience reduction in both force production and velocity of movement, which means loss of power.

Power drops off 2-3 times faster than strength because we are losing faster contracting fiber.

In ancient times, when we trained outside by picking up stones and throwing them, we were actually training for power. In more modern times, as our training moved indoors and we used iron weights, we lost our Power Training because we could not throw iron. Therefore, we lost our ability to lift at speed. We actually trained better centuries ago than we have in the last century.

If we are losing power as we age, rather than using slow contractile lifting, why don't we use lift that's specific to high velocity movements?

Pneumatic Resistance Equipment allows us to train at speed, and movement speed is the major determinant of power.

Call (661) 823-8205 to schedule a Power Training demonstration with Keiser Pneumatic Resistance Equipment.

– Terry Delamater is the owner of Sculpt365 and a retired Pharmacist.